4 Reasons Why You Need To Leverage The Power Of Native Advertising

Native advertising is all around you, and it has become a catchall in the digital advertising ecosystem globally and in India. In essence, native ads blend in seamlessly with editorial content, matching the form and feel of the publishers on which they are run.

It’s a win-win: for the audience who find traditional advertising annoying, for the brand because it gains the visibility it seeks, and for the publishers who retain their ad revenue and traffic.

Types of native ads

Content marketers are increasingly turning to native ads to build trust and engagement with their target audience rather than traditional banner ads.

Typically there are four types of native ad integrations: content recommendation widgets, in-feed native ads, custom content units and promoted listings. For example, promoted tweets on Twitter, editorial-based content recommendations via content discovery platforms like Taboola and Revcontent, and suggested posts on Facebook, will all be considered forms of native advertising.

Native advertising’s rise to fame can be attributed to the fact that digital executives felt the need to rethink how advertising was done on the Internet. As per Sharethrough/IPG Media Labs’ 2013 study, 25 per cent more consumers looked at in-feed native ad placements (the most common editorial native ad format) than display ad units. The same study found that consumers viewed native ads 52 per cent more frequently than banner ads.

In the International News Media Association and the Native Advertising Institute’s 2016 study, 89 per cent of respondents revealed native advertising to be the most important new advertising source above programmatic.

We give you four reasons why you should NOT ignore native advertising in 2017.

1. Businesses of all sizes can benefit

Native is gradually becoming the next big thing in digital advertising, and experts predict that by 2020, more than 63 per cent of mobile display ad spend will be native. Most native ad platforms require a small financial buy-in from businesses to get started, which means the smallest of businesses can take advantage of all that native advertising has to offer them: brand exposure, quality click-through rates, access to a newer audience, and much, much more.

2. Native advertising attracts high-quality consumers

Consumers want to turn off ads or set up ad blockers when they find advertising disrupting their online experience with ads that are not relevant to their needs. In fact, the ad-blocking revolution is expected to become stronger than ever. At least 419 million people are blocking ads on their smartphones, as per PageFair’s 2016 Mobile Adblocking report. The rise of ad-blocking is making native advertising a positive move for brands and publishers.

The best native ads create a pleasant experience for the user; therefore, when someone clicks on a native ad you know you’re attracting a reader who’s genuinely interested in your product or service. Engaging with a high-quality visitor will ultimately lead to a higher conversion rate. Remember, native advertising results in better leads because the visitor’s interest level is higher.

3. Native ads face less resistance from the consumer

Native ads, unlike the traditional conspicuous banner ad, blend in seamlessly with the rest of your site’s content. This is why you experience more user engagement and less resistance from your customers.

4. Native offers an overall lower cost-per-click

Because native ads provide excellent custom targeting they are much cheaper, they result in higher click-through rates and a low cost-per-click. They attract clicks because they’re unlike the in-your-face pop-ups or pesky conspicuous banner ads.